Crawford stays home with Memphis, didn’t like way UT 'acted'

MEMPHIS — When it came time to announce where he would play college basketball, Sheffield guard Chris Crawford took a long look at the three hats in front of him Thursday before picking up the bright orange cap representing the University of Tennessee.

But much like the grip Tennessee seemingly had on Crawford’s recruitment last week, it was only a fleeting charade.

After a tug-of-war between coaches Josh Pastner and Bruce Pearl that went back-and-forth a few times over the final weeks of his recruitment, Crawford exchanged the orange hat for Tiger blue and committed to the University of Memphis during a news conference at his high school.

“I thought long and hard with my mom and prayed on it,” Crawford said. “I just really didn’t want to leave home. I felt like I’d be good here in Memphis. It was really a toss-up but I wanted to play here in front of my family and win a national championship.”

Crawford, a 6-4 sharpshooter who went from virtual unknown to one of the nation’s hottest prospects over the summer, becomes the fourth Tigers commitment in a 2010 class that is quickly loading up on elite talent. Ranked No. 66 by Rivals.com, Crawford joins Baltimore shooting guard Will Barton (No. 11), White Station point guard Joe Jackson (No. 12) and Baltimore point guard Antonio Barton (unranked).

“It’s exciting because now we have a spot-up shooter and another scorer,” said Jackson, who played with Crawford on the Memphis Magic Elite AAU squad that won the Adidas Super 64 tournament in Las Vegas this summer. “We’re trying to be No. 1 in the nation.”

Before Crawford committed, Memphis’ recruiting class was already ranked No. 3 nationally by Rivals, behind Ohio State and Syracuse — a remarkable development given the chaos that surrounded the program after John Calipari’s departure.

Also, after promising that he would recruit “inside-out,” Pastner has now locked up two of the top three seniors in Memphis, reconnecting the program with its 1970s and ’80s roots when most nearly all of the city’s top players stayed at home.

With three or four more slots still to fill in this class, Pastner will now focus on Ridgeway’s 6-8 forward Tarik Black, ranked No. 47 by Rivals, who played AAU ball with Crawford and Jackson.

Memphis fans can only hope Black’s recruitment turns out as favorably as Crawford’s, which seemed headed in the direction of Knoxville as recently as last week. But a combination of Pastner’s final pitch and some late mistakes by Tennessee, whose recruiting approach was relentlessly negative, ignited a dramatic shift over the final days.

Pearl, who once said he had to pull players out of Memphis to be successful in Knoxville, is still looking to land his first since arriving at Tennessee in 2005.

“It really wasn’t my style,” Crawford said. “I didn’t like how they acted there. I didn’t want to be in that kind of environment. I knew Tennessee wasn’t for me. Memphis is my school.”

Pastner’s biggest hurdle in recruiting Crawford was convincing him that he would have a significant role in the program, even with talented guards like Jackson and Barton coming on board, and the likelihood of Elliot Williams returning for his junior year in 2010-11. But at a meeting late last week, Pastner successfully conveyed his vision for Crawford, which also included an emotional appeal about becoming a star in his hometown.

“One thing that I respect Memphis for and Chris respects Memphis for is that Josh just made it plain,” his mother, Betty Crawford, said. “He told Chris, ‘You have to earn everything,’ and it really helped him a lot to make his decision. He has never gotten anything free. Anything he’s gotten, he’s earned.”

Though at one point it appeared Crawford might have some academic issues, his senior year is off to a good start by all accounts, putting him on a trajectory to be eligible as a freshman. That’s not surprising, given how much Crawford’s confidence has grown both on the court and off as a result of his play in July.

Once a shy, quiet kid, Crawford seemed at ease in the public spotlight Thursday and said repeatedly he would embrace being in a competitive situation at Memphis.

“I was always underrated, that’s what I felt, and that July was my month,” Crawford said. “My confidence went way high.

“I feel like I’m on another level now and I’ve got to keep it that way.”